Replacing wiper motors, pantographs, etc.

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stevemitchell

stevemitchell

Guru
Joined
Sep 25, 2018
Messages
542
Location
USA
Vessel Name
Aruna
Vessel Make
Kristen Yachts 50 Pilot House
When I bought my boat just under a year ago, one of the things that did not work (known via survey) was the windshield wipers. In fact, there were no wiper arms or wiper blades at all on the boat, only some older looking shafts and a pantograph mount on each lower window. The motors did not work for more than about 3 seconds before drawing 60+ amps and tripping the breaker.

Since I live in the beautiful, yet slightly soggy, Pacific Northwest, having operable windshield wipers is sort of important. I've coated the windows and my flybridge plastic windows with various substances the last year, and had reasonable results, but nothing beats a wiper.

Thanks to @tiltrider1, I contacted AM Equipment and have worked with them to design and order motors, brackets, wiring harnesses, pantographs and wipers for both of my lower windows. Everything arrives in a day or so.

There were no access hatches to the existing motors, so I had to carefully measure and using an inspection camera, drill some small holes to find the exact areas for the existing motors. That is done, and I've exposed them, ready to remove them once the new ones arrive.

IMG_4405.jpg

The space is likely going to need modification to fit the new motors, but that should be pretty easy with a Fein tool and some patience.

IMG_4401.jpg

I'm interested in an advice from folks who have replaced through hull wipers before. There does not appear to be any water damage or leakage that I can see, and I think I should be able to just unscrew the motor and pull the whole assembly out.

IMG_4403.jpg

However, this is a boat, so nothing ever goes as easily as you think.
 
Looks like the same system I had on my OA. After you remove the screws you should be able to gently hammer them out from the out side. You will likely need to cut the shafts with a sawzal or hack saw. I doubt you will get those bushings to come off the shaft.
 
Here is a picture of a spare motor that was on the boat.

IMG_4410.jpg

I figured just removing the nut and the plastic hose piece that is on the shaft would allow me to try to get the whole shaft to move. Are you thinking I might have to cut the whole thing off before trying that?
 
If the sleeve in the photo is plastic then the nut should just back off. The sleeve looked metal to me and I was afraid it was rusted in place.
 
tiltrider1 said:
If the sleeve in the photo is plastic then the nut should just back off. The sleeve looked metal to me and I was afraid it was rusted in place.
Click to expand...

Ah yeah, I am pretty sure I can get the nut off. That piece is definitely plastic, and although the threads are pretty beat up, I am sure I can either cut the nut off, or get it off somehow. Then with some gentle convincing I am hoping to get the shaft to move inward.
 
I had no problem removing the wiper motors once the nut was off. A few taps with a hammer and they popped right out.
 
I’m not clear how I am going to attach the new motors. I ended up with the 230 series from AM and they’re not here yet so maybe there will be some brackets. The docs online show front facing bolt holes and I forgot to ask for more details.
 
My boat was the same way. Lever off or cut off the bushing on the outside (that was originally part of the pantographic arm). Unscrew the nut outside. Remove any derivation mounting screws on the inside, disconnect the wires & it should come out as the sealant releases. I just replaced mine with same motor for ease of instalation. Most pantographic arms adjust for length.
Just a thought - try dissembling all the wiper connections (including ground) & bypassing switch before you toss the motors - especially if they haven't been used for a year. You may find the high current draw goes away & motor works fine. Worth a try.
stevemitchell said:
When I bought my boat just under a year ago, one of the things that did not work (known via survey) was the windshield wipers. In fact, there were no wiper arms or wiper blades at all on the boat, only some older looking shafts and a pantograph mount on each lower window. The motors did not work for more than about 3 seconds before drawing 60+ amps and tripping the breaker.

Since I live in the beautiful, yet slightly soggy, Pacific Northwest, having operable windshield wipers is sort of important. I've coated the windows and my flybridge plastic windows with various substances the last year, and had reasonable results, but nothing beats a wiper.

Thanks to @tiltrider1, I contacted AM Equipment and have worked with them to design and order motors, brackets, wiring harnesses, pantographs and wipers for both of my lower windows. Everything arrives in a day or so.

There were no access hatches to the existing motors, so I had to carefully measure and using an inspection camera, drill some small holes to find the exact areas for the existing motors. That is done, and I've exposed them, ready to remove them once the new ones arrive.

View attachment 94320

The space is likely going to need modification to fit the new motors, but that should be pretty easy with a Fein tool and some patience.

View attachment 94321

I'm interested in an advice from folks who have replaced through hull wipers before. There does not appear to be any water damage or leakage that I can see, and I think I should be able to just unscrew the motor and pull the whole assembly out.

View attachment 94322

However, this is a boat, so nothing ever goes as easily as you think.
Click to expand...
 
Remember to twist the wires into a spiral configuration . It has probably been done to the supply wires but continue the spiral from where you tie into the source wires right up to the motor.

Without the spiral twists your compass will go berserk whenever you turn on the wiper motors. Might effect your auto pilot also.

pete
 
Flatswing said:
My boat was the same way. Lever off or cut off the bushing on the outside (that was originally part of the pantographic arm). Unscrew the nut outside. Remove any derivation mounting screws on the inside, disconnect the wires & it should come out as the sealant releases. I just replaced mine with same motor for ease of instalation. Most pantographic arms adjust for length.
Just a thought - try dissembling all the wiper connections (including ground) & bypassing switch before you toss the motors - especially if they haven't been used for a year. You may find the high current draw goes away & motor works fine. Worth a try.
Click to expand...

These motors are very difficult to come by, at least the original ones. I do not believe they are manufactured anymore, and were not made in the US for sure. I have two "spares" that the previous owner bought from somewhere which are also used, but the same motor. They appear to work OK, but I still have a broken pantograph, no arm, and no wiper. Since I had to get those manufactured, I decided to go with new motors too, that way if I have to replace them again for some reason, I could probably find a more modern motor.

I did try bypassing the switch and had the same problem. I don't think these have been used in many, many years.

Pete Meisinger said:
Remember to twist the wires into a spiral configuration . It has probably been done to the supply wires but continue the spiral from where you tie into the source wires right up to the motor.

Without the spiral twists your compass will go berserk whenever you turn on the wiper motors. Might effect your auto pilot also.

pete
Click to expand...

Not sure if the supply wires are twisted, but I haven't noticed any problems when running a spare motor that works reasonably well. Both my standard compass and electronic Furuno PG-700 seem fine. But it is good advise nonetheless!

tiltrider1 said:
The 230 series is held in place by the jam nut.
Click to expand...

Aha, that makes sense.
 
stevemitchell said:
Not sure if the supply wires are twisted, but I haven't noticed any problems when running a spare motor that works reasonably well. Both my standard compass and electronic Furuno PG-700 seem fine. But it is good advise nonetheless!
Click to expand...
The supply wires on mine are only spiraled where they exit the ceiling, inside the framework, the wires are not spiraled. They did it to leave extra long wires to connect up the motors, and the spiral keeps them up out of the way. IMO!

I dont see my old style compass deviate when turning them or anything else on.

I have noticed my old compass is very inaccurate compared to the GPS compass, both opencpn and android. For me its an ornament.
 
Last edited:
Pete Meisinger said:
Remember to twist the wires into a spiral configuration . It has probably been done to the supply wires but continue the spiral from where you tie into the source wires right up to the motor.

Without the spiral twists your compass will go berserk whenever you turn on the wiper motors. Might effect your auto pilot also.

pete
Click to expand...
Bit of thread drift here but I got a kick out of Pete's comment about the compass going berserk.

In the early 70's I was stationed in Anchorage and worked for a guy who owned about a 26' cabin cruiser. Four of us took the boat to Prince William Sound to go bear hunting. At least the was the reason for the trip. Mainly we just wanted to spend some time on the water.

On the last day as we were headed home, I was at the helm and set a course for Whittier, our destination.

It started to rain so I flipped on the wipers. After what should have been plenty of time to reach Whittier, we were still out in open water and the only things visible were some large chunks of floating ice.

We obviously were lost so we headed south, hoping to find Whittier Sound. We came across a fishing boat and asked them for directions. Turns out we were about 20 miles away from Whittier Sound.

What happened was when I turned on the wipers it froze the compass at that current heading. Our course had taken us on a wide, sweeping curve north.

Oops. :banghead:
 
GFC said:
What happened was when I turned on the wipers it froze the compass at that current heading. Our course had taken us on a wide, sweeping curve north.

Oops. :banghead:
Click to expand...

Ha! That's pretty funny. I had a sailboat about 10 years ago that had a "solid state digital" compass up under the v-berth.

For almost a year, I would have the boat on autopilot with someone else at the helm, and go below to pump out, only to have the boat make horrific course changes throwing us all about. I assumed it was the person at the helm doing stupid things, but after the third time, I figured out it was the magnetic field generated by the large macerator, which was about 2" from the compass.

I moved the compass. Things worked much better :hide:
 
Motors, pantographs, wipers, and other bits arrived yesterday. Today I was able to get one of the old motors out.

IMG_4419.jpg

The shaft was easy to loosen, but the motor had clearly been installed prior to much of the rest of the roof and boat parts. I could not get to either side where it was screwed up into the fiberglass. After a bit of surgery with my Fein-like-tool made by Dremel, I was able to coax it out.

I had to do a bit more surgery to make room for the new one. Test fit worked perfectly, and I even got to run it a bit before taking it all apart so I can seal it all up tomorrow.


Tomorrow will be removing the starboard side one and doing this all over again. Then adjustments and sealing everything up.
 
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